With 230 acres of land to work with, Elings Park day camps offer youths a wide range of unique summer activities, such as BMX and rugby.
“(Rugby) is the fastest-growing sport in America, so we’re helping lead that here at Elings Park,” said Steen Hudson, executive director of Elings Park.
To help youths learn the ground rules for the sport, Hudson said UCSB’s rugby team has offered to help teach the camp. “This is noncontact rugby,” he said. “A lot of what we’re trying to do up here is give kids some great life-skill lessons, and sports is a wonderful tool to accomplish that.”
In addition, Elings Park has the only BMX facility from Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo, and national BMX champions will make guest appearances, he said. What makes BMX especially exciting, though, is that it will appear for the first time as an Olympic sport this summer in Beijing. “Here, the idea is it’s an actual BMX track, and kids have an opportunity to ride it,” he said.
Hudson said the types of camps Elings Park offers are “driven by what kids want.”
“For the kid that just wants to pick up a new skill or new sport or experience a wide variety of activities, our sports camp does that,” he said. “Since we have accessibility to our propriety, they can hike or run, and explore on our trails.”
Youths who want to learn a different form of biking also may attend the park’s mountain-biking camp, where they will have the chance to experience different types of riding with skilled riders, such as how to ride downhill and cross-country. “We have 11 miles of mountain biking,” he said. “Riders learn how to navigate trails and ride a mountain bike more effectively. They also learn trail etiquette.”
This year, Hudson said the park expects 700 to 750 youths to attend the camps, with a camper to counselor ratio of 10-to-1. All counselors are certified in CPR and first aid, he said. “We make it a priority that staff we hire is kid-friendly and that we have more counselors to campers, because it often allows more positive experience for kids,” he said.
For high school students interested in becoming a counselor, Hudson said the park has a counselor-in-training program. Those interested may fill out applications at their high schools. Hudson said there are a lot of opportunities to be involved, and students have the potential to become a full-time counselor.
Children ages 5 to 14 can attend the camps from June 23 through Aug. 22. Camps cost $180 per week, which includes lunch, snacks and a camp T-shirt. However, Hudson said, the price of the camps should not be a deterrent. “One of the things that is a priority for us is making our camps available to as many kids as possible,” Hudson said.
The park has a partnership with Harding Elementary, he said, since the school is less than two miles away. In addition, he said Elings Park offers many scholarships. For more information on how to obtain a scholarship, call the park’s office at 805.569.5611 or click here.